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Counting imaginary sheep has never worked as a sleep aid for me, but maybe that’s because I always visualized them at ground level.

A bird’s-eye view (or drone’s-camera, in this case) is something entirely different, and quite fantastic. It may not be sleep-inducing, but it is definitely soothing and mesmerizing.

This footage of dogs herding sheep in New Zealand, captured by a camera-equipped drone, is from Tim Whitaker, a filmmaker and aerial photographer in New Zealand. It was taken at a farm in Rangitikei.

As for the choreography, we can thank dog for that.

As the dogs direct them, the massive herd of sheep wash over the green hills like a wave, spreading and narrowing as they make their way to the destination.

Beautiful as this footage is, it raises the unfortunate question: If you’ve got the drones, do you need the dogs?

(The answer — at least until drones start cuddling and looking up at us with big soulful eyes — is yes.)

That’s not to say drones can’t herd dogs. Paul Brennan of Carlow, Ireland, employed a drone nicknamed “Shep” a couple of years ago to herd sheep from one field to another, capturing the process as Shep saw it from the air.

Unlike the video at the top of this post, it’s not nearly as peaceful and soul-enriching — but maybe that’s just the fast-motion pace and the Benny Hill music.

A dog named Don “took control” of a farmer’s tractor yesterday and drove it across a field, through a fence and onto a busy highway in Scotland, tying up rush hour traffic.

Don and his owner, Tom Hamilton, were in the tractor together when Hamilton hopped off to tend to a lamb, leaving the tractor running, and neglecting to engage the emergency brake.

The border collie leaned on the controls, causing the tractor cross a field and end up on the M74 in South Lanarkshire before crashing.

Traffic Scotland reported in a Tweet that the traffic tie up was “due to a dog taking control of tractor … nope, not joking. Farmer and police at scene …”

When the traffic cleared, the agency reported, “Route is clear from earlier incident and dog is fine. Has to be the weirdest thing we have ever reported! No delays in area.”

Hamilton, who is 77 and has run the sheep farm for 52 years, told ITV: “I was out in the mini-tractor and had stepped out of it to get a lamb, which looked like it was about to get out of the gate. I had not put the brake on the tractor and when I turned round I got a fright as the vehicle was careering down the hill, through a gate and on to the M74.”

PETA has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture calling for an immediate investigation of how the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston is treating the dogs, monkeys, sheep, goats, ferrets and mice being used in experiments.

PETA says a whistleblower has informed them that the animals are being intentionally burned, mutilated, and cut open for experiments the organization describes as “cruel.” Also at issue, PETA says, are claims that the animals are receiving inadequate veterinary care, and are being neglected and handled carelessly by improperly trained staff.

The unidentified whistleblower told PETA that researcher Daniel Traber has subjected sheep, pigs, and mice to third-degree burns on up to 40 percent of their bodies and forced the animals to inhale smoke from burning cotton. UTMB experimenters also intentionally caused spinal cord and sciatic nerve injuries in sheep, PETA says.

“Our source also reports the following: UTMB faculty members cut open dogs and surgically implanted tubes into their colons for irritable bowel experiments. One dog reportedly died during surgery, and another died in pain following surgery when staff members did not provide anesthetics and were apparently unable to use the monitoring equipment correctly.”

PETA says it has has repeatedly reached out to UTMB through letters and phone calls to discuss the alleged violations, but has gotten no response. A PETA petition urges UTMB to “immediately conduct a thorough investigation of the university’s laboratories and dismiss any employees whose incompetence, negligence, or outright cruelty are found to have contributed to increased pain and misery for animals.”

PETA highlighted Traber, of UTMB Department of Anesthesiology, two years ago in its “Vivisector of the Month” column, which reported that:

“Traber … has made a living for almost three decades by burning animals’ skin off. In a recent experiment, he eithertorched mice with a Bunsen burner until more than 40 percent of their bodies was charred or forced them to inhale smoke. A few select mice got the full treatment—they were both burned and forced to inhale smoke. Some died during the experiment, and survivors were subsequently killed.

“In another study, Traber heated an aluminum bar to nearly 400 degrees with a Bunsen burner and roasted the skin of live pigs on it for 30 seconds, creating a series of deep burns that covered 15 percent of their bodies. In order to repair the deliberately injured animals, Traber and colleagues then removed skin from the pigs’ legs to graft over the areas that had been burned off. After living through all this torture, the pigs were killed. Again, this is only his most recent work—Traber has been burning, mutilating, and killing sheep for years.”

Anne Arundel County Police shot and killed three pit bulls Monday night after the dogs were reported to be attacking livestock.

The dogs were among five that were reported to have been injuring goats and sheep in a fenced area on the 1600 block of Bay Head Road in Annapolis, WBAL-TV reported. Three dogs were still attacking livestock when police arrived Monday night.

“Fearing for their safety and the safety of the remaining livestock, officers located and shot three pit bulls,” police said in a press release.

None of the dogs had collars, microchips or other forms of identification.

In total, five sheep were killed, including two that had to be euthanized due to the extent of their injuries and a third that was shot by police to end its suffering. Four goats were injured during the attack.

Police said the dogs were owned by Richard Watts, 51. He was issued six citations — three for animals running at large and three for public safety threats.

“This was a very tragic incident as several animals died as a result of this attack,” said County Executive John R. Leopold. “I urge all pet owners to keep their pets on leashes and properly secure them from running loose and becoming a threat to public safety.”